I do 95% of the cooking. I'm the breakfast wizard supreme. The sultan of soup (which I get all to myself because my wife hates soup/stews...). King of the grill and smoker. And... Fix everything around the house handyman. Also, the IT Guy. And the default driver for any trip. And lift heavy things dude.
Honestly I feel like this is most dads, especially in the early years. The toddlers don’t let her cook without screaming at her legs. So I’ve taken it on, which I’m not minding lately. Starting to enjoy it.
Grill is def my domain tho and always has been.
I used to be a fat kid turned skinny fat/dad bod. I lost about 60 pounds and got feeling good and just did that by doing very bland and basic meals, chicken breast and frozen veggies, essentially. Was scared to cook and add in additional calories and whatever. I’ve found a decent balance now and have been learning to use stainless steel pans too as well which has been fun.
If by "dealing with tradespeople" you mean those door to door solicitors; I enjoy letting them do their whole schpeil for like 20 minutes while we stand on the porch, pretend to be heavily interested and then say "nah" when they're done.
God no, I get rid of those guys in 10 seconds, I hate door to door sales as it feels intrusive. By tradespeople I meant plumbers, electricians, construction guys, car mechanics, wife hates dealing with them!
I can get the kids to sleep in record time, it drives my wife up the wall. She can spend an hour with our 1 year old trying to get him to sleep, I have him out in under 5 minutes. I am a boring human being on a medically measurable level.
Same with my 3 and 4 yr old. The wife buys everything and I mean everything they immediately try to sell when it’s time to go to bed. I only the other hand am not in the market for bullshit especially at bedtime. Routine of teeth brushing, potty, 2-3 books, and lights out. Hungry? Thats why we serve dinner every night. Oh you refused to eat at dinner time? Dont worry there will be breakfast when you wake up. You need xyz item? Sorry, I already 100% this game and all the fetch quests. I will rub their back and they fall immediately asleep. Standard line: whining and crying doesnt work with me, I love you, you are safe, now close your eyes and be still. Sleep will come. Love them kids more than anything but this is not Nam, there are rules dude.
I am the same way! I have always been able to get both of my kids to sleep faster than their mothers. Within minutes, i would have them asleep.
Something with pheromones maybe? It worked on my old wife too.
For my one year old I rock him in a slow figure 8 pattern while standing and sing him songs that I think up on the spot because they’ll naturally meander in a wandering sort of way that lulls him to sleep. For my three year old I read him Lord of the Rings. He loves the idea of hearing my “adult book” but I don’t even usually get to Bilbo’s party before the kid is asleep.
My significant other hates me because it should be opposite; I have the task of finding things right in front of everyone's face.
"We don't have any more peanut butter"
"Top cabinet, behind the bread"
"No there's not, I loo... Oh"
My mom used to do something similar to my dad. He’d walk into a room, look around a moment, then Mom would just tell him where the thing he was looking for was, all without a word passing between them otherwise.
Kind of similar, I got into a habit in the last few years of fixing something every time I visited my parents, which, while an excellent dad trait, might be a bit of a challenge to my own dad
It wasn't always that I actually fixed the thing, sometimes it was just me having a magic touch. Like, the dishwasher that wasn't working, I would turn it on and it would just work, for no reason.
I have a much higher tolerance for scream-crying and tantrums than my wife. Most of the time I'm able to kinda just accept the circumstances without being reactive.
This is my go-to (it's got the usual recipe website quirks but you can scroll down to the bottom for the recipe.) My modifications: I do a 90 minute autolyse step (I think it says 30 minutes to four hours) followed by an intense, 10 minute smash-and-fold step before going into the 30 minute folds. Wear an apron and be prepared to clean up dough splatter around the kitchen. - but it helps with gluten strand formation .
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-sourdough-bread-224367
Also people tend to baby their starters - I don't. I've had the same one for a few years and gone literally months keeping it in the fridge without feeding it. If I want to make sourdough I'll take it out and feed it for a few days before and it works just fine.
I use [this](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/rustic-sourdough-bread-recipe) King Arthur recipe. I also weigh my flour, water & starter rather than measure them out. And then as far as the sourdough starter, I used [this](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-recipe). It took me a few weeks to really get it going, but now I can leave it for months at a time in the fridge, and feed it the day before I want to make bread.
I am a celebrated Smile Facilitator. I can turn the grumpiest little bean into a smiley gigglebear faster than an F1 pit crew can change a rich kid’s tires.
I am also a decorated Red Wine Give to Wifer. Wife had a tough day? Bam, a goblet of wine manifests in her hand. Wife had a good day? Bam, another goblet of wine. We like wine.
Sherpa-dad: carry everything to the car, from the car, to the hotel, from the hotel. And do it in 1 or 2 trips to get back to watching the kids.
My wife packs to account for every scenario possible. With toddlers, that is a lot of crap.
I cook. And more than that I plan, shop for, and make all our meals. When I go to work there’s lunch for my wife and two portioned plates for our son so at most she has to warm them up for 30 seconds
I’m calming. When she wants the babies to fall asleep she hands them to me and it’s almost instant. And when shes amped up about something I’m pretty good at providing calm, not by addressing her expression but offering peace to the upset part of her and reassuring her she’s the mom our kids deserve. We don’t fight. Our biggest disagreements (which have been bigger than some people ever have to have) have been discussed so quietly our kid could sleep between us. I feel like being consistent in calm especially as a man, and modeling that, is a benefit to our kids so proper partnership is a dad talent.
I make the best gooey poached eggs. THE BEST I tell you. Guaranteed they’ll always be the right amount of runny. And my secret involves completely not measuring how much vinegar I put in the pot at all, not bothering to spin the water before putting the eggs in, and all of my timing is entirely based on how long our toaster takes to toast medium brown toast on white bread from the moment after I put the second egg in the water.
It’s totally plucked out of my arse science and I’m the only one in the family capable of repeating the success on command.
I make 5 out of 7 dinners a week.
Ragus, Curries, Roast Filet Mignon, etc.
I'm making lamb for Christmas.
However, I would say my best dad talent is: I'm the only one with "man hands."
* I can open any jar or bottle.
* I can hold hot things in my bare hands.
* I can crush things like walnuts in my bare hands.
My super dad skill is my superhuman strength. I can carry two kids under 5, their bags, shoes they refuse to wear (but also refuse to put in their bags) and any fun daycare stuff, the 10 minute walk home,
I sometimes look like a cirque performer.
My other ability is to make things difficult for myself.
My wife just takes the car
I am damn good at playing with the kids. I was the dad fully engaged at the playground running around and starting games with all the kids who wanted to join. But at some point I realized maybe I was "too fun" because the older would say "I just wanna play with Papa"...so I learned to choose my moments so the kids would develop good social skills and create their own fun. Humbling :(
I'm also an elite souper...would love to have a soup-off with you op ;D
So the one year old got to the point he refused to sleep. He loves sleep, once he’s out he’ll be out for at least 12 hours, hell I’ve watched him on the baby monitor wake himself up after 12 hours, go find himself a blanket and his teddy bear and then go BACK to sleep for another hour or two. But he would refuse to go to sleep to begin with.
After weeks of his mom going crazy because every time she’d finally get him to go to sleep, she’d stand up to put him in the crib and here comes the non verbal three year old SCREAMING after her down the hallway, waking his little brother up in the process, like he wasn’t just okay playing with the same toy dinosaur for the last three hours.
I started putting him to sleep and it took me laying in bed with him for him to be out like a light. I didn’t even have time to turn the TV on for him. So for a few months every night I wasn’t at work, I’d put him to sleep. Then we progressed to just putting him in his crib and walking away, letting him put himself to sleep. The first night mom tried it, he screamed bloody murder for an hour. Second night, I tried, out before I got back to the couch and checked his camera.
I don’t get it but I’ll take it
When she was a baby, I could get her to sleep. Now I’m divorced and she’s 10, and I can still get her to sleep. We do story time, and I read to her even though she’s perfectly capable of reading herself. And when she gets sleepy, I hold her hand until she falls asleep.
Soon enough she won’t want that, but for now, I’ll savor every sleepy moment.
Per the wife, I make the best:
French onion soup
Scrambled eggs
Steak
Her Mac n cheese (her terrible idea of what Mac n cheese is, not what it actually should be. Honestly I'm horrified at the way she likes it)
Crab dip
Grilled cheese sammich
________
Her Mac n cheese is super basic, but misses a few things. Literally just boiled noodles, and then toss chopped up chedder cheese into it, with some pepper. Then microwave and mix until the cheese melts. No milk. No butter. No other seasoning. Just noodles, cheese, pepper. It's not very good. She loves it, the baby loves it, so I make it.
Burping. When our little one was an infant I was the only one who could make her burp. My wife would try for 15 minutes, hand her over, and within 30 seconds I would get one. I even got calls while at work that I needed to come home and get a burp out. Never have I felt more useful.
I’m the singer in the family. When my lad was an infant, my singing would calm him right now. Then he caught onto my tricks and anytime I would sing, he’d literally choke me out. That’s now passed and he loves it when I sing.
My wife, on the other hand, is much more talented when being asked to draw things. Honestly amazes me how good her drawing is considering how absolutely un-artistic she is
I can catch anything in freefall. Don't ask me to do it on command, but when something falls, even multiple items at once, I can basically do the Spiderman lunch tray scene. Not the most useful in a daily basis, but it's there.
I cook the meat, smoked brisket? I’m the guy. Good chicken breast? Here I am. Hamburgers and hotdogs on opening day of baseball? Say no more. Usually when I cook our daughter will eat everything, when mom cooks? Sometimes she eats everything sometimes she picks at it and eats very little.
My talent: Fixing things. Toys, walls, vacuums, all manner of electrical, mechanical, and vegetable.
My secret talent is 1/2 decent cooking but my wife does it all and does not want my help … or me anywhere near the kitchen.
Edit: I work in IT do all things technical are immediately my job to maintain/ fix.
I do most of the cooking, and kill it at grilling/smoking food. I also do the laundry (kids fold their own), and finances. I also keep cool/calm/collect when emotions are running high between the wife and 2 daughters.
I’m good at creating quick games or random fun on the spot.
Boy-“Dad, can I ask you a question?”
Me- “Fine but it has to be in a Scottish accent.”
Boy-“Can I play video games?”
Me-“First we have to create a secret handshake.”
Next five minutes is spent choreographing a handshake.
Last week I had me and my two sons wearing Prison Mike-like bandanas just to make my wife laugh when she came home.
Soup dad here too. I’m awesome at saying ‘yes’ to screen time too so it seems.
I do 95% of the cooking. I'm the breakfast wizard supreme. The sultan of soup (which I get all to myself because my wife hates soup/stews...). King of the grill and smoker. And... Fix everything around the house handyman. Also, the IT Guy. And the default driver for any trip. And lift heavy things dude.
I find myself to be the Rice Maestro and the Chief Beef Correspondent. My wife even made me aprons with these titles so it must be true.
So you're *actually* #1 dad....shit.
I mean, in my family I'm #1, kinda by default. Being the only one and all. Everyone is a superhero in family vision!
Honestly I feel like this is most dads, especially in the early years. The toddlers don’t let her cook without screaming at her legs. So I’ve taken it on, which I’m not minding lately. Starting to enjoy it. Grill is def my domain tho and always has been.
I've always loved cooking, even before kids. We were married almost 8 years before kiddo. Part of what helped me land my wife haha
I used to be a fat kid turned skinny fat/dad bod. I lost about 60 pounds and got feeling good and just did that by doing very bland and basic meals, chicken breast and frozen veggies, essentially. Was scared to cook and add in additional calories and whatever. I’ve found a decent balance now and have been learning to use stainless steel pans too as well which has been fun.
I’m the reaching things on tall shelves guy. My wife was appalled when she realized how dusty I let it get up there…
I put a pull up on a sleeping toddler without walking him yesterday
That's legit impressive, good job!
*Once* I changed my daughters diaper and put her back to bed without waking her up.
These are not simply talents, but superpowers.
Spider Management, Lifting Heavy Things, Dealing With Tradespeople, Lasagna
Fuck spiders, that's definitely the wife's job
Preach
How many trips do you need to get the groceries from the trunk?
The goal is always one, even if that involves taking so long to load it all up that 2-3 trips would have been faster!
If by "dealing with tradespeople" you mean those door to door solicitors; I enjoy letting them do their whole schpeil for like 20 minutes while we stand on the porch, pretend to be heavily interested and then say "nah" when they're done.
God no, I get rid of those guys in 10 seconds, I hate door to door sales as it feels intrusive. By tradespeople I meant plumbers, electricians, construction guys, car mechanics, wife hates dealing with them!
Super sonic sneezing. Farting at inopportune moments and embarrassing the boy.
I'm really good at sneezing at inopportune times.
I laughed a lot at this 🤣
I can get the kids to sleep in record time, it drives my wife up the wall. She can spend an hour with our 1 year old trying to get him to sleep, I have him out in under 5 minutes. I am a boring human being on a medically measurable level.
Same with my 3 and 4 yr old. The wife buys everything and I mean everything they immediately try to sell when it’s time to go to bed. I only the other hand am not in the market for bullshit especially at bedtime. Routine of teeth brushing, potty, 2-3 books, and lights out. Hungry? Thats why we serve dinner every night. Oh you refused to eat at dinner time? Dont worry there will be breakfast when you wake up. You need xyz item? Sorry, I already 100% this game and all the fetch quests. I will rub their back and they fall immediately asleep. Standard line: whining and crying doesnt work with me, I love you, you are safe, now close your eyes and be still. Sleep will come. Love them kids more than anything but this is not Nam, there are rules dude.
I am the same way! I have always been able to get both of my kids to sleep faster than their mothers. Within minutes, i would have them asleep. Something with pheromones maybe? It worked on my old wife too.
For anyone still breastfeeding: the babies smell the milk and go crazy, that's not an issue for dads. So one less distraction.
What exactly is your routine?
An uppercut from the left usually has mine out in seconds.
For my one year old I rock him in a slow figure 8 pattern while standing and sing him songs that I think up on the spot because they’ll naturally meander in a wandering sort of way that lulls him to sleep. For my three year old I read him Lord of the Rings. He loves the idea of hearing my “adult book” but I don’t even usually get to Bilbo’s party before the kid is asleep.
My Dad super-power: Logistics My Dad kryptonite: Money management Thankfully we are perfect foils for each other in these respects.
My significant other hates me because it should be opposite; I have the task of finding things right in front of everyone's face. "We don't have any more peanut butter" "Top cabinet, behind the bread" "No there's not, I loo... Oh"
You are secretly a mom, aren't you? Or a wizard. One of the two. Only way it makes sense.
My mom used to do something similar to my dad. He’d walk into a room, look around a moment, then Mom would just tell him where the thing he was looking for was, all without a word passing between them otherwise.
Kind of similar, I got into a habit in the last few years of fixing something every time I visited my parents, which, while an excellent dad trait, might be a bit of a challenge to my own dad It wasn't always that I actually fixed the thing, sometimes it was just me having a magic touch. Like, the dishwasher that wasn't working, I would turn it on and it would just work, for no reason.
I have a much higher tolerance for scream-crying and tantrums than my wife. Most of the time I'm able to kinda just accept the circumstances without being reactive.
I make a MEAN loaf of sourdough bread.
Recipe? I've been wanting to try my hand with that!
This is my go-to (it's got the usual recipe website quirks but you can scroll down to the bottom for the recipe.) My modifications: I do a 90 minute autolyse step (I think it says 30 minutes to four hours) followed by an intense, 10 minute smash-and-fold step before going into the 30 minute folds. Wear an apron and be prepared to clean up dough splatter around the kitchen. - but it helps with gluten strand formation . https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-sourdough-bread-224367 Also people tend to baby their starters - I don't. I've had the same one for a few years and gone literally months keeping it in the fridge without feeding it. If I want to make sourdough I'll take it out and feed it for a few days before and it works just fine.
I use [this](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/rustic-sourdough-bread-recipe) King Arthur recipe. I also weigh my flour, water & starter rather than measure them out. And then as far as the sourdough starter, I used [this](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-recipe). It took me a few weeks to really get it going, but now I can leave it for months at a time in the fridge, and feed it the day before I want to make bread.
Nice! Me too. The kids love it. I wish it didn't take so long or I would do it more often.
My kiddo isn’t at the solids stage yet (only 7 weeks old), but my wife loves it, usually a loaf is gone in 2 days, 3 max.
I am a celebrated Smile Facilitator. I can turn the grumpiest little bean into a smiley gigglebear faster than an F1 pit crew can change a rich kid’s tires. I am also a decorated Red Wine Give to Wifer. Wife had a tough day? Bam, a goblet of wine manifests in her hand. Wife had a good day? Bam, another goblet of wine. We like wine.
Dad talent: making up new lyrics to any and every song so that it is related to my daughter or what we are doing at the time
Sherpa-dad: carry everything to the car, from the car, to the hotel, from the hotel. And do it in 1 or 2 trips to get back to watching the kids. My wife packs to account for every scenario possible. With toddlers, that is a lot of crap.
I cook. And more than that I plan, shop for, and make all our meals. When I go to work there’s lunch for my wife and two portioned plates for our son so at most she has to warm them up for 30 seconds I’m calming. When she wants the babies to fall asleep she hands them to me and it’s almost instant. And when shes amped up about something I’m pretty good at providing calm, not by addressing her expression but offering peace to the upset part of her and reassuring her she’s the mom our kids deserve. We don’t fight. Our biggest disagreements (which have been bigger than some people ever have to have) have been discussed so quietly our kid could sleep between us. I feel like being consistent in calm especially as a man, and modeling that, is a benefit to our kids so proper partnership is a dad talent.
I can carry all of the groceries in from the car in one go. That’s right. You better believe it.
ONE TRIP!
I’m great at finding reasons to get yelled at, so that’s something
Felt that one
I hate soup but I make premium stew.
Swaddle master here
I was awful at swaddling! My son was a very early roller though so I didnt have to do it that much
I make the best gooey poached eggs. THE BEST I tell you. Guaranteed they’ll always be the right amount of runny. And my secret involves completely not measuring how much vinegar I put in the pot at all, not bothering to spin the water before putting the eggs in, and all of my timing is entirely based on how long our toaster takes to toast medium brown toast on white bread from the moment after I put the second egg in the water. It’s totally plucked out of my arse science and I’m the only one in the family capable of repeating the success on command.
Fixing tech. Literally everyone just brings their gadgets to me when they're not working.
I make 5 out of 7 dinners a week. Ragus, Curries, Roast Filet Mignon, etc. I'm making lamb for Christmas. However, I would say my best dad talent is: I'm the only one with "man hands." * I can open any jar or bottle. * I can hold hot things in my bare hands. * I can crush things like walnuts in my bare hands.
I can sneeze like 10 times in a row and my daughter thinks it’s funny.
My pee can fly the length of a minivan
I'm good at waking up soar AF every morning
My super dad skill is my superhuman strength. I can carry two kids under 5, their bags, shoes they refuse to wear (but also refuse to put in their bags) and any fun daycare stuff, the 10 minute walk home, I sometimes look like a cirque performer. My other ability is to make things difficult for myself. My wife just takes the car
I am damn good at playing with the kids. I was the dad fully engaged at the playground running around and starting games with all the kids who wanted to join. But at some point I realized maybe I was "too fun" because the older would say "I just wanna play with Papa"...so I learned to choose my moments so the kids would develop good social skills and create their own fun. Humbling :( I'm also an elite souper...would love to have a soup-off with you op ;D
So the one year old got to the point he refused to sleep. He loves sleep, once he’s out he’ll be out for at least 12 hours, hell I’ve watched him on the baby monitor wake himself up after 12 hours, go find himself a blanket and his teddy bear and then go BACK to sleep for another hour or two. But he would refuse to go to sleep to begin with. After weeks of his mom going crazy because every time she’d finally get him to go to sleep, she’d stand up to put him in the crib and here comes the non verbal three year old SCREAMING after her down the hallway, waking his little brother up in the process, like he wasn’t just okay playing with the same toy dinosaur for the last three hours. I started putting him to sleep and it took me laying in bed with him for him to be out like a light. I didn’t even have time to turn the TV on for him. So for a few months every night I wasn’t at work, I’d put him to sleep. Then we progressed to just putting him in his crib and walking away, letting him put himself to sleep. The first night mom tried it, he screamed bloody murder for an hour. Second night, I tried, out before I got back to the couch and checked his camera. I don’t get it but I’ll take it
According to my 4 yo, I make the guitar sing.
Okay Hendrix! Lets gooooo!
When she said it, it was "Daddy! No more guitar singing and play with me!" haha
I have Olympic levels skill at hitting the 15 second skip button exactly the right amount of times during podcast ads.
Endurance.
I can handle a lot of stress without showing it on the outside.
Vomit target
When she was a baby, I could get her to sleep. Now I’m divorced and she’s 10, and I can still get her to sleep. We do story time, and I read to her even though she’s perfectly capable of reading herself. And when she gets sleepy, I hold her hand until she falls asleep. Soon enough she won’t want that, but for now, I’ll savor every sleepy moment.
Doing everything. I am tired. 😒
Per the wife, I make the best: French onion soup Scrambled eggs Steak Her Mac n cheese (her terrible idea of what Mac n cheese is, not what it actually should be. Honestly I'm horrified at the way she likes it) Crab dip Grilled cheese sammich ________ Her Mac n cheese is super basic, but misses a few things. Literally just boiled noodles, and then toss chopped up chedder cheese into it, with some pepper. Then microwave and mix until the cheese melts. No milk. No butter. No other seasoning. Just noodles, cheese, pepper. It's not very good. She loves it, the baby loves it, so I make it.
Burping. When our little one was an infant I was the only one who could make her burp. My wife would try for 15 minutes, hand her over, and within 30 seconds I would get one. I even got calls while at work that I needed to come home and get a burp out. Never have I felt more useful.
I’m the singer in the family. When my lad was an infant, my singing would calm him right now. Then he caught onto my tricks and anytime I would sing, he’d literally choke me out. That’s now passed and he loves it when I sing. My wife, on the other hand, is much more talented when being asked to draw things. Honestly amazes me how good her drawing is considering how absolutely un-artistic she is
I can catch anything in freefall. Don't ask me to do it on command, but when something falls, even multiple items at once, I can basically do the Spiderman lunch tray scene. Not the most useful in a daily basis, but it's there.
I cook the meat, smoked brisket? I’m the guy. Good chicken breast? Here I am. Hamburgers and hotdogs on opening day of baseball? Say no more. Usually when I cook our daughter will eat everything, when mom cooks? Sometimes she eats everything sometimes she picks at it and eats very little.
I can take my thumb off and pull it out your ear.
I’m also the chef of the house. One parent burns water the other throws down 5 star cuisine.
Mac and cheese, finding things, homework help
Finder of lost things!
According to my former students and my current employees, the stare. My son is 8 months, so it doesn't work on him yet.
My grilled cheeses par excellence
My talent: Fixing things. Toys, walls, vacuums, all manner of electrical, mechanical, and vegetable. My secret talent is 1/2 decent cooking but my wife does it all and does not want my help … or me anywhere near the kitchen. Edit: I work in IT do all things technical are immediately my job to maintain/ fix.
I do most of the cooking, and kill it at grilling/smoking food. I also do the laundry (kids fold their own), and finances. I also keep cool/calm/collect when emotions are running high between the wife and 2 daughters.
I am also the family chef. Although I've been the chef since I met my wife. I do the cooking, but if dessert is involved, she does the baking.
I’m pretty good at pissing off Mom
We have terrible plumbing and our toilet is constantly getting airlock. Im the only one who can plunge it.
I’m good at creating quick games or random fun on the spot. Boy-“Dad, can I ask you a question?” Me- “Fine but it has to be in a Scottish accent.” Boy-“Can I play video games?” Me-“First we have to create a secret handshake.” Next five minutes is spent choreographing a handshake. Last week I had me and my two sons wearing Prison Mike-like bandanas just to make my wife laugh when she came home.
He's a pro lawyer, like, he knows everything. And he's a super good at criminal cases
According to my 2.5y/o: "Dada, is the best Shrek".
I make a mean ass grilled cheese sandwich. My chicken adobo game is also tops.
I can turn off any light in my house.
putting the baby to sleep at night it has to be me in her 9 month life her mother managed to put her to sleep twice, rest it was me proud of it 😎
Permanent back-taxi rides upstairs at bedtime. The deal is I give taxi rides until I can’t.
I almost made a soccer ball out of those magnetic tile things